Living a "Glass Half Full" Life!

Monthly Archives: February 2013

Sunday dinner means a lot to me. It’s not just my memories of dinners when I was a kid but its the memories I know I am making for my family today that motivate me to make a pot of sauce on a Sunday. Last year I posted “Musings While Making Sauce”

My son was home for the weekend and along with a Sabres game with his dad we gathered family and friends for a dish of macaroni.

Sunday dinner is the extra effort meal. Sunday dinner does not need to be sauce and macaroni but in the middle of the winter it was a natural choice. I think that any dish that takes a few more minutes and you would not have the time nor the effort left in the tank after a long work day to prepare is a worthy Sunday dinner meal.

My mother often used to make a rib roast or roasted chickens on the oven rotisserie.

Sunday dinner smells good. I love how the house smells during these cooking sessions and sometimes for days after. If you make something with bacon it’s a gift that keeps on giving for days to come.

Sunday dinner is not complete without dessert. I talk a lot about how my mom used to bake every Saturday and how I remember watching her bake pies. I have some sort of a pastry deficit but still give it a try when peaches are in season.

I baked a red velvet Bundt cake from a box cake on Sunday. To make it Sunday special I creamed on brick of cream cheese and about 1 cup of confectioners sugar. I added about a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and slowly added half and half (I didn’t measure but I think it would have been about 2-3 tablespoons) until the frosting was creamy. I put it on the cake by heaping a spoonful on the top and gently guiding it down the sides. It looked pretty and tasted amazing…

…just like Sunday dinner should…

Let’s talk some more about Sunday dinner. Please feel free click the email link below and give me your story. What do you cook? Who is at the table?

When the meal is special and you’re surrounded family and friends, any day is Sunday. I know folks who work in different service industries who have Monday evening Sunday dinner.

Yesterday I invited my family and as is usual custom in our home there were a few friends I had never met before they came to my home.

That is why I would like to write a book titled “If It’s Sunday Dinner, We Must Be Family.”

I give up “drive-throughs” and before you snicker and say I’m not doing much, give it a try. The first year I did it (before my weight loss surgery) I lost 10 pounds during Lent. How about that?

A wise person would have given them up for good but I’ve never boasted to be wise.

Ash Wednesday is February 13 this year and that begins a time of penance and reflection for Christians. It is also a day of fasting as is Good Friday, where you only eat one meal during the day.

Many Christians also abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays before Easter. Folks solidly middle aged and older, like myself, remember when Catholics abstained from meat every Friday. That is why fish fry Friday is popular in the areas where there is a large Catholic population.

But short of attending one of the hundreds of fish fries throughout WNY it would be helpful to have a few meal plans in your recipe repertoire.

Wrap: smash a hard boiled egg in a bowl and mix with a teaspoon of mayo, a tablespoon of sweet pickle relish and a small spoon (1/8 – 1/4 tsp to taste) of horseradish. Heat both sides of the tortilla quickly on an ungreased skillet. Spread egg mixture on tortilla. Place one roasted red pepper on top. Fold the bottom quarter of the tortilla up. Turn the folded end to 9:00 then roll up with an open end at 3:00.

Stand by: pasta with marinara sauce

Change up: fusilli with tuna tomato sauce

This is a riff of my mom’s tuna sauce. Actually, she won’t recognize it…

Add sea scallops to bag and shake to coat. Remove from bag and shake off excess.

Add to pan in a single layer. Sauté for about three minutes and turn over. If they are sticking to the pan cook another minute. Flip. Cook about a minute then add butter. When butter is melted add wine. Stir lightly for a minute until wine sauce is bubbly.

Dress greens with oil and vinegar, herb seasoning and salt and pepper.